ABOUT SEAN STANNARD-STOCKTON

Sean Stannard-Stockton is the president and chief investment officer of Ensemble Capital Management, located in Burlingame, CA, midway between San Francisco and Silicon Valley. From 2006 through 2012, Sean authored the Tactical Philanthropy blog and wrote regular philanthropy columns for both the Financial Times and the Chronicle of Philanthropy. In 2012, Sean officially ended the blog to focus on growing Ensemble Capital.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Disruptive Innovations

"Disruptive Innovations in Health and Health Care" is an open source competition to identify ways in which the health and health care marketplace can offer services, tools and choices that consumers want-but are currently out of reach because of cost, complexity or because the right idea hasn’t come along.

We are looking for entrepreneurs both within and outside of the health care field with ideas for new products, services, technologies, business models-or some combination thereof-that enable consumers to manage health and receive care in ways that are more affordable, accessible, simple and convenient.

Examples: Glucose monitors that provide diabetics with the convenience of blood glucose readings in seconds from the comfort of their own home. Walk-in health clinics in retail stores that enable patients to quickly see skilled nurse practitioners who can treat common conditions at lower costs than typical doctor visits.

How It Works: Twelve competition finalists will be selected by a panel of judges. You then vote on three winners, who will each receive a $5,000 cash prize from Changemakers. In addition, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) Pioneer Portfolio will review competition entries and may award up to $5 million to support projects that show potential for significant impact!

Unlike NetSquared, which let the crowd pick the finalists, RWJF will let experts pick the finalists and then let “you” pick the winners. Navigating the conflicting powers of the Wisdom of Crowds and the Madness of Crowds is tricky business. But I think that those who are able to figure it out will indeed discover disruptive innovations.